Could your clients afford a 20% down payment? Could you? Can you envision what your prospective client pool will look like if new regulations governing Qualified Residential Mortgages (QRM) take effect this year?

Neither can we. And neither can many elected officials in Congress who did not intend for these regulatory provisions to be so narrowly defined. We must continue our efforts to explain how detrimental the new QRM rules would be to the ongoing housing and lending crisis in America.

Please contact Congress today and ask them to make it clear to the regulators that this proposed regulation was not their legislative intent and to instead implement a more reasonable Qualified Residential Mortgage (QRM) that will keep credit-worthy buyers in the market and able to acquire a loan.  

 

Go to www.realtoractioncenter.com today to respond to this Call for Action. Let Congress know how this proposed new regulation would impact your market.

For the fifth straight week, mortgage rates inched down again - this time reaching the lowest level of the year as well as lowest year-to-date. The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 4.61 percent last week, while the 15-year rate averaged 3.80 percent, Freddie Mac reported in its weekly mortgage market survey.

 

The 30-year mortgage hasn't reached 4.61 percent or below since December 2010. Last year at this time, it averaged 4.84 percent while the 15-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 4.24 percent.  

 

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Last year's WILD WEST theme was such a success that the Show Me Region is bringing it back. So come on ya'll, and mark your calendar for the June 9 RPAC Auction hosted by the Show Me Region!  

 

The auction will be held at Benjamin Ranch (6401 E. 87th St., Kansas City, MO). We'll saddle up the evening with dinner at 6 p.m., followed by the live auction at 7:30 p.m. We're excited to announce that local celebrity Tanna Guthrie, REALTOR® with Prudential Kansas City Properties and 99.7 "The Point" radio host, will once again be our auctioneer!

 

$20 per person includes one drink ticket and a dinner buffet of beef brisket, smoked turkey, sides, salad and dessert. Dress in your best WILD WEST gear and be ready to roll up your sleeves for the cow milking contest and other games! RSVP to attend - just login here to register for the event - or use this printable registration form and fax it to 913-498-1110.

 

If you are interested in donating an item or service to this auction, download this donation form or contact Cristalle Bozarth at 913-266-5908 or cristalleb@kcrar.com.

Fifty-four percent of American adults say they believe a housing recovery won't occur for another three years, or possibly even later, according to an annual survey of more than 2,000 U.S. adults by Trulia and RealtyTrac, which evaluated attitudes toward home ownership and foreclosures.

 

In a November 2010 survey, Americans were a little more optimistic that a recovery would happen sooner. About 42 percent said they thought the market would turn around by 2012 or had already turned around. Yet, in the most recent survey in April, that has now dropped to 23 percent who see a recovery in sight by 2012, and a majority who see a recovery further down the road.

 

Read more from REALTOR® Magazine Online >>